The latest Bank of Japan Tankan survey, released on Tuesday, showed rather mixed feelings among the Japanese corporations, mainly due to worries about the US economy. Next week the Foreign Chambers Information Group (FCIG) will launch its own Business Confidence Survey among the foreign-affiliated companies in Japan. We expect more than 15 chambers and 600 companies to participate in this second survey (the previous was done in April this year). The results will be published at a joint chambers' luncheon meeting on November 13. If you are interested to know what the foreign companies think of the business climate in Japan, and their own performance here, mark this date in your calendar.

October Luncheon Meeting

Timo Airaksinen

At our October luncheon meeting we will have a guest speaker from Finland, Professor Timo Airaksinen, Chairman of the Japan Guild in Helsinki (Japani-Kilta), and the
theme of his presentation is: "Finnish Perspectives on Japan: An Evolving Picture"
Luncheon details:

Date & Time:

Wednesday 23 October, 12:00-14:00

Place:

Capitol Tokyu Hotel, Chikuen Room (B2F)

Cost:

7,000 yen at the door

Registration:

by Monday 21 October

Timo Airaksinen was born in 1947 in Vaasa.
He earned his M.A. degree in 1971 and Ph.D. degree in 1975 (philosophy) from the University of Turku.
He has held positions as Assistent, University of Turku, Department of Philosophy, 1972-1983,
Docent, University of Turku, 1976 -, Professor of Philosophy (Chair in ethics, social philosophy and philosophy of law), University of Helsinki, 1983 -.
Mr. Airaksinen has also been Visiting Professor of Philosophy, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, 1994-1996.
Invitations are in the mail to our members, but if you would like to register now, click link at right.

The "Finland Cafe", organized by the Finish Tourist Board's Tokyo Office, will open throughout the the month of October.
The Cafe, located near Daikanyama station, offers Finnish cuisine and design, more than 20 Finnish companies present their products in the cafe. Customers will be able to enjoy great original Finnish cuisine including salmon and mushroom dishes served on Finnish tableware and table linen.
For more info (in Japanese) and a location map, click link at right.

The EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation announces
the EU-Japan Business Intelligence Symposium 2002, c-organized with The Business Intelligence Society of Japan.

Find out how European and Japanese global corporations make best use of IT
and information systems to become more efficient

Meet the leading players of the Information Industry and hear about their
opinions on the current and future trends. Start thinking how your company
can take advantage of Business Intelligence solutions; understand their
increasing influence in the transformation of business processes

Learn from real-world cases how companies develop and achieve Business
Intelligence platforms

The purpose of the symposium, organized by the Ministry of Public Management, Home
Affairs, Post and Telecommunications of Japan, the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Finland and the Embassy of Finland in cooperation with Nokia Japan, National Technology Agency of Finland, Finland Trade Center and The Finnish Institute in Japan, is to introduce recent developments in the telecom industry in Japan, Finland and Europe, explore future developments and partnerships in the global mobile industry and to facilitate linkages between Finnish and Japanese actors in the industry.

Details:

Date & Time:

Friday, November 1, 13:30-17:30

Place:

Mita House (Japanese Government Conference Bldg.) Tokyo

Our members will receive invitations directly from the Embassy. If you have not
received this info by October 15, and are interested in the event, please contact the Embassy of Finland by clicking link at right.

The executives of TeliaSonera, created through the merger between Swedish Telia and Finnish Sonera, believes strongly in the future of the leading telecom company in the Nordic and Baltic countries.
Telia announced on Tuesday their bid for share exchange to Sonera shareholders. One Sonera share entitles to 1.5144 Telia shares. Telia President Anders Igel said that the company has a great potential. He, as well as the Vice President in the new company Harri Koponen (presently Sonera's President) believe that Telia's offer would be accepted by Sonera's owners. "We are alredy supported by two main shareholders, the governments of Sweden and Finland", said Mr. Koponen.

OK, now what..?
The world's funniest joke has been revealed after a year-long search by scientists. Judge by yourself....

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy takes out his phone and calls the emergency services.
He gasps: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says: "Calm down, I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a gunshot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: "OK, now what?"

Related to the above joke. The husband of "the wife of an ex-Finnair boss in Tokyo" (too complicated?), who many of my reader know, is retiring from Finnair next week. I am of course talking about Dan Mörn. We wish Dan and Anne-Maj nice and relaxing retirement days!

ABOUT THIS BULLETIN
This bulletin is published by the Finnish Chamber of Commerce in Japan (FCCJ) and distributed to over 400 recipients among its members and related organizations.
FCCJ was established in April 1999 to promote trade and economic exchange between Japan and Finland and has today 71 corporate members.